What does it mean to manage/regulate yourself (self-regulate) and others? How does it bring you towards goals? How important is communication in this process and what helps/impedes it?
What is self-regulation?
Self-regulation is the ability to manage time and learning efficiently in order to meet specific goals. Many tasks from our childhood are meant to help us build our self regulation. When I was younger, it was quite common to hear my parents asking if I had completed my homework, attempting to help me learn not to spend my time effectively to finish any tasks my teachers had assigned me. As we move through school our responsibility to take charge of learning and complete goals becomes greater in order to prepare us for adulthood and any future careers. Self-regulation is a key skill for success, as it allows people to set goals and to track their progress.
While I believe that I generally have a high level of self-regulation, our current project in Instructional Technology has tested me. The project does include a timeline, supporting activities, and deadlines, but it is not expected to be turned in until the end of the semester. As a result, there is not as much reinforcement or feedback throughout the project as would be received in other assignments. However, this format does mimic real life. For this project, I have a client who has requested materials and is expecting me to design them promptly and to present progress ever week. While I am not receiving feedback from my professor, I have received feedback from my client and other subject matter experts throughout the process. Even so, self-regulation for an online course without frequent deadlines has been difficult for me. Upon investigation, this is a common problem with online courses.
Lee and Choi (2011) find that although online classes are becoming more popular, they also have higher dropout rates than face to face classes. Although there are a variety of reasons for this, the research found that student factors, including self-regulation, or motivation and time-management, are main issues that contribute to the problem. Cho and Shen (2013) propose that to combat this issue, online courses should enhance students’ intrinsic goal motivation through problem-based learning, promote students’ self-efficacy by creating opportunities for discussion and feedback, and scaffolding instruction. The Instructional Design course at UNT does a great job implementing these solutions into their online class design, which I believe has helped me through the process designing Project B. It is important to keep these suggestions in mind when designing any future online courses in order to set my students up for success.
Communication
This process has strongly emphasized the importance of communication throughout the project. In Project A, my first client was not able to communicate with me in order to provide feedback or give information to set goals. I learned very quickly that it is impossible to design efficient instruction without open-communication and ended up parting ways with that client until a time that they were more available. As a result, I made it clear to future clients that I would need frequent feedback about the project and its ability to meet their goals and expectations. Project A also required written feedback at several times during the process, facilitating communication between my client and myself. For Project B, these communication points were not as clearly defined or monitored so it was up to me to set personal communication goals.
My current client is a coworker that requested I design a unit of English Language Development for her kindergartners. Due to our previous experience working together, communication was both easier at times and more difficult at others. Due to having an established relationship as coworkers, I truly appreciated my clients honesty and feedback throughout the process. She was able to communicate ideas clearly and efficiently from the beginning of the process. However, our friendship did complicate things when she went on vacation and I was more timid in asking for feedback out of respect for her time off. Eventually, I had to call and firmly ask to set a date to meet and review material. At that time, she had several changes that she requested which required me to return to the development stage of design and revisit ideas.
Without frequent communication, it is hard to develop instructional designs that fit your client’s needs and expectations. It is easier to get feedback along the way to incorporate into designs than to receive it all at the end and have to restart the process completely. Several factors can help or hinder communication throughout the design process.
Factors that Facilitate Communication:
- Establish expectations for communication with the client on the first day.
- Have specific deadlines and dates to meet to go over material.
- At each part of the process (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation), make sure to communicate progress and take note of any concerns from the client.
Factors that Hinder Communication
- It can be harder to communicate if there are trips planned during the process.
- Tone of communication. Try to keep communication professional, even if the client is your friend.
- Lack of deadlines. Set goals with the client about meetings and deadlines at the beginning of the process.
In my opinion, good communication is the key to good instructional design. In future projects, I will implement practices that facilitate communication with clients from day one.
References
Cho, M., & Shen, D. (2013). Self-regulation in online learning. Distance Education, 34(3), 290-301. doi:10.1080/01587919.2013.835770
Lee, Y., & Choi, J. (2011). A review of online course dropout research: Implications for practice and future research. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 59(5), 593-618. doi:http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2126/10.1007/s11423-010-9177-y
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